thumbs up

See also: thumbs-up

English

Alternative forms

• thumbs-up
• thumb up, thumb-up (rare)

Etymology

Said to refer to the signal of approval or disapproval used by spectators at a Roman amphitheatre, but the directions have been reversed, and the Roman gesture was a bent thumb.

Noun

A railworker in Zambia giving a thumbs up sign (1)

thumbs up (plural thumbs up)

1. A gesture signifying approval or okay; a thumb pointing up out of a fist.

   He smiled and gave a big thumbs up.

2. An approval or OK.

   We got the thumbs up to go ahead with the project.

Antonyms

• thumbs down

Derived terms

• thumbs-up (verb)

Translations

a gesture signifying approval or okay

• Hindi: जयकार (hi) m (jaykār), विजयोत्सव (hi) m (vijyotsav)
• Korean: 엄지척 (ko) (eomjicheok), 따봉 (ko) (ttabong)
• Portuguese: joinha (pt) m, fixe (pt) m
• Spanish: pulgar arriba m, pulgar bueno m
• Swedish: tumme upp, tummen upp

an approval or OK

• Portuguese: joia (pt) m
• Spanish: aprobación (es) f, asenso (es) m
• Swedish: tumme upp, tummen upp, grönt ljus (sv) n

See also

• 👍